4.8. Block Quotes

A
common element in conventional documents is the block quote, a
lengthy copy of text from another document. Traditionally, short
quotes are set off with quotation marks, while block quotes are made
entirely of separate paragraphs within the main document, typically
with special indentation and sometimes italicized -- features that
you may change through style or class definitions (see Chapter 8, "Cascading Style Sheets").

4.8.1. The <blockquote> Tag

All of the text within the
<blockquote> and
</blockquote> tags is set off from the
regular document text, usually with indented left and right margins,
and sometimes in italicized typeface. Actual rendering varies from
browser to browser, of course.

<blockquote>

Function:

Define a block quotation

Attributes:

CITE

ONKEYUP

CLASS

ONMOUSEDOWN

DIR

ONMOUSEMOVE

ID

ONMOUSEOUT

LANG

ONMOUSEOVER

ONCLICK

ONMOUSEUP

ONDBLCLICK

STYLE

ONKEYDOWN

TITLE

ONKEYPRESS

End tag:

</blockquote>; never omitted

Contains:

body_content

Used in:

block

The HTML and XHTML standards allow any and all markup within the
<blockquote>, although some physical and
content-based styles may conflict with the font used by the browser
for the block quote. Experimentation will reveal those little warts.

The <blockquote> tag is often used to set
off long quotations from other sources. For example:

We acted incorrectly in arbitrarily changing the Kumquat
Festival date. Quoting from the Kumquat Growers' Bylaws:
<blockquote>
The date of the Kumquat Festival may only be changed by
a two-thirds vote of the General Membership, provided
that a <strong>60 percent quorum</strong> of the Membership
is present.
</blockquote>
(Emphasis mine) Since such a quorum was not present, the
vote is invalid.

gets displayed by Internet Explorer as an indented block of text.
Figure 4-24 displays the results.

Figure 4-24. Blockquotes get their own space

4.8.1.1. The cite attribute

The cite attribute lets you indicate the
source of a quote. The attribute's value should be a
quote-enclosed URL that points to the online document and, if
possible, the exact location in the document where the quote came
from.

For instance, you could cite the specific section in the Kumquat
Grower's Bylaws in our example. Presumably, someday the browser
may actually let you click and view that specific citation via its
embedded URL. Today, you must embed an explicit hyperlink to the
document; see Chapter 6, "Links and Webs":

4.8.1.4. Event attributes

Like with
most other tagged segments of content, user-related events can happen
in and around the <blockquote> tag, such as
when a user clicks or double-clicks within its display space. Many of
these events are recognized by the current browsers. With the
respective "on" attribute and value, you may react to
that event by displaying a user dialog box or activating some
multimedia event. Section 12.3.3, "JavaScript Event Handlers"

4.8.2. The <q> Tag

Introduced in HTML 4.0, the <q> tag is
virtually identical to its <blockquote>
counterpart. The difference is in their display and application. Use
<q> for short quotes that may be in line
with surrounding plain text. Although not yet supported by the
popular browsers, the HTML and XHTML standards dictate that the
<q>-enclosed text begin and end with
double-quote marks. Use the <blockquote>
tag, on the other hand, for longer segments that the browser will set
off -- usually as an indented block -- from the surrounding
content, such as that shown in Figure 4-24.

<q>

Function:

Define a short quotation

Attributes:

CITE

ONKEYUP

CLASS

ONMOUSEDOWN

DIR

ONMOUSEMOVE

ID

ONMOUSEOUT

LANG

ONMOUSEOVER

ONCLICK

ONMOUSEUP

ONDBLCLICK

STYLE

ONKEYDOWN

TITLE

ONKEYPRESS

End tag:

</q>; never omitted

Contains:

body_content

Used in:

text

4.8.2.1. The cite attribute

The cite attribute works with the
<q> tag just like it does for the
<blockquote> tag: it lets you indicate the
source of a quote. The attribute's value should be a
quote-enclosed URL that points to the online document and, if
possible, the exact location in the document where the quote came
from.

4.8.2.4. Event attributes

Like with
most other tagged segments of content, user-related events can happen
in and around the <q> tag, such as when a
user clicks or double-clicks within its display space. Many of these
events are recognized by the current browsers. With the respective
"on" attribute and value, you may react to that event by
displaying a user dialog box or activating some multimedia
event.Section 12.3.3, "JavaScript Event Handlers"